A Sh20 million (USD 35k) banana winery is going up in Igoji East ward and Meru county is seeking financial aid from the World Bank.
The winery is expected to raise the income of exploited farmers who have been falling prey to middlemen who buy at low prices.
Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi’s administration spent Sh4 million (USD 7k) in 2017-18 and Sh3 million (USD 5.2k) in 2018-19 to build the winery.
The date of completion is not known.
Agriculture chief officer Dionesia M’Iruaki said the county increase farmers capacity-building, value-addition and build modern markets for the crop.
Farmers will also be educated on the quality of certified seeds for maximum benefits.
Farmers need to come together and form groups and join Saccos for higher bargaining power for their crop, she said.
More than 9,700 hectares are under banana plantation and more than 50,000 farmers grow bananas either on small or large scale, producing more than 4,390 tonnes a year valued at Sh6 billion (USD 1 million).
Imenti Community-Based Organisation (Icobo) health foods director Paul Kiambi told the Star that they export 12 tonnes of the bananas every three months. The firm produces several banana products.
Kiambi said Icobo also makes animal feed from banana peel and organic fertiliser from the main banana stem.
Icobo employs 15 people and has directly contracted 2,000 farmers.
“We export 12 tonnes with a value of Sh450 (USD 0.80) per kilogram,” Kiambi said. The cleanliness of the shipment and hygiene of the containers is ensured,” resolving any fears associated with production and processing, “Kiambi said.
Ditch traditional practices
Agriculture chief officer M’Iruaki said the county discourages old farming practices.
“We are against farmers plucking bananas for planting from their neighbours. It encourages the transplanting of diseases. Farmers should turn to tissue culture for clean planting to manage diseases and increase yields,” she said.
She said the county encourages farmers to form groups “because when a farmer is alone he takes his harvest to the market and middlemen take advantage by dictating the price.”
The chief officer warned farmers against harvesting premature bananas to win bid prices.
She said some farmers in Mitunguu have developed a tissue culture banana that produces huge bananas of as much as 80kg per bunch.
“The price ranges from Sh15 to Sh65 (USD 0.03-0.11) per kilogram depending on type and variety. We want farmers to sell by kilograms and not per bunch,” she said.
Meru was ranked first in banana production countrywide in 2016 at 17 per cent, followed by Kirinyaga at 11 per cent, Murang’a 9.5 per cent, Kisii 7.9 per cent and Tharaka Nithi at 5.7 per cent.
Meru’s Imenti South leads in banana growth followed by Imenti Central and North, Tigan, as it is a dry area.
Bananas grow well with 1,200mm of rainfall per year.
The county has small banana processors which limit farmers from earning more.
Igoji East MCA Mwirigi Karinga, the Banana Cooperatives chairman, said the winery will be vital but will be delayed unless more money is allocated to it.
It will be located in his constituency.
He said departments should chip in and not leave the project to be carried out only with the ward fund.
Agriculture director Martin Munene said there not enough nurseries with certified seedlings. This has forced the county and most farmers to use suckers from their neighbours for transplant.
They also purchase seedlings from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology.
Farmers incur a lot of costs in controlling banana weevils, nematodes and fusarium diseases, Munene said.
He said many farmers lose money for lack of hygienic modern markets, poor handling techniques and transportation methods. Soil testing is crucial before planting but often is not done, he said.
Source: Gerald Muthethia, The Star